Page 151 of The Forbidden Villain
“Is that what this is about? Payback?” Rush asks, and anger sinks into every bone.
“Nothing about my relationship with Lavender is about payback.” I prefer to be honest, though. “I won’t lie and say it didn’t bring me satisfaction knowing how much you would hate it, so you know how it feels.”
The muscle on his cheek twitches, and he watches me broodily, crossing his arms while his face and eyes stay unreadable.
I’m impressed by how much he holds himself back in the current situation. I expected him to lunge at me the minute Lavender kissed me.
This proves how much he loves Aileen because he wouldn’t want to upset her, and as happy as I am for her, it sours the beast in me who wished for blood to fully stake my claim on what’s mine.
Rafael removes his suit jacket, throws it onto the chair, and starts rolling up his sleeves. Wyatt whistles. “So it’s a fistfight after all? Was I the only one who heard Uncle Lachlan telling us to be respectful?”
“We are not teenagers who act recklessly because we are driven by our tempers. I’m afraid that’s your prerogative,” Rafael replies, and goes to the bar to pour himself a whiskey before dropping several ice cubes in it. “What are your intentions toward our sister?” He swirls his drink. “She’s never been in any kind of relationship before, so she’s inexperienced when it comes to such things. Her heart is fragile.”
“There is nothing fragile about her.”
Like I already said, my flower bloomed in the most harsh conditions and continues to grace us all with her beauty, and I won’t allow anyone to take away from her strength.
She might be inexperienced when it comes to relationships, but it doesn’t make her a naive fool who doesn’t know what she wants.
“Fair enough.” Rafael taps on the top of his glass. “My question still remains unanswered.”
“It’s none of your business.”
A certain kind of tension charges the air around us. For the first time, I notice a simmering rage glazing Rafael’s gaze, allowing me to see true emotions on the matter.
Between the two, Rush has less control, but it seems Rafael has none where Lavender is concerned, either. “Your intentions toward my sister are none of my business?”
“The question is ridiculous in its entirety.”
“And why is that?”
“She’s a grown woman. My intentions toward her are something only she needs to know.”
“You don’t think that we, as her brothers—” He motions his head toward Rush, who stands still, probably assessing his prey since he’s a hunter like me. “—no, father figures and the only family she has had since our parents entrusted her to us…don’t deserve to know where all of this is headed? Something that has the power to destroy the bond between our two families?”
Resting my shoulder against the wall, I wonder, “So do you care about the families and a potential feud or about your sister’s feelings?”
He sips his drink as the clock ticks soundly, and Wyatt’s eyes ping-pong between us as if he’s watching an intense match. He even grabs nuts and pops them in his mouth, amusement etched on his features as he sits on the couch, kicking his legs up on the table.
Never mistake his calmness for anything but a strategy to assess his opponent and strike when he’s at his weakest, though.
Instead of Rafael, Rush answers, his voice harsh and heavy. “I love your sister with everything in me.” Our gazes clash, and his words cause chaos within me, for no matter what, he’s still family and a man who saved me once upon a time.
An angel of death, as I called him.
“Make no mistakes, Levi, though. If you hurt my sister, I will not hesitate to kill you.”
“Likewise, Rush.” His eyes narrow on this as if he expects some kind of trap. “Lavender is mine. It means that I would protect, cherish, and obsess over her till my last dying breath. Should I ever become a threat to her, you have my permission to kill me.”
A prolonged pause follows my declaration while both brothers drill their stares into me, and Rafael smirks. “You can say all that, but can’t say anything about your intentions?”
“When I propose to my woman, you’ll know.”
“But you aren’t going to ask for permission?”
“Of course not. That would imply you’ll have a say in my marriage, and you don’t.”
I can marry her tomorrow if she says yes, but it’s too soon for her.
